As previously announced, Oscar Isaac will play Gomez. Sausage Party director Conrad Vernon and Greg Tiernan are co-helming this brand new take on Charles Addams’ classic New Yorker cartoon series which has been adapted into various formats since its debut in 1938 including a black and white ABC TV series during the early 1960s, a Hanna-Barbera cartoon during the ’70s, two Paramount features which made over $240M WW during the early 1990s and a recent Broadway show.

Matt Lieberman wrote the script, which follows the kooky Addams family as they face-off against a crafty reality-TV host voiced by Janney while also preparing for their extended family to arrive for a major celebration, Addams-style.

Vernon is producing with Gail Berman, via her shingle The Jackal Group, and Alex Schwartz. Andrew Mittman, Kevin Miserocchi and Joe Earley are EPs. Tabitha Shick, MGM’s Executive Director, Worldwide Motion Pictures is overseeing the project on behalf of the studio. CG Animation and digital visual effects production is underway in Vancouver at Cinesite Studios.

Vernon said in a statement, “Greg and I have always been a fan of the Addams Family in past versions, so when we set out to make this movie, we were excited to do something new. With that in mind, I drew from the brilliantly original Charles Addams New Yorker cartoons for the look of the film and decided to tell the story of how Gomez and Morticia meet, find their house and start their family. This unique approach is what drew me in to direct the film. The reimagining also extends to the stellar cast we’ve put together who will each bring their own spin to our film that will appeal to longtime fans of the Addams and introduce them to a new generation.”

“Conrad and Greg are masters of animation with the keen ability to create something both kids and their parents will enjoy for different reasons. Adding to that a world class caliber of talent with Oscar, Charlize, Chloë, Finn, Nick, Bette and Allison – we can’t wait to bring their fresh and modern take on The Addams Family to the worldwide audience,” said Jonathan Glickman, president of MGM Motion Pictures Group.

New York Times
Struggling to Keep Up With Those Mormons
By PATRICK HEALY
Published: September 2, 2011

The new Broadway musical â€œThe Book of Mormonâ€ has been setting box office records, and this has been the best summer yet for the long-running hits â€œWickedâ€ and â€œThe Lion King.â€ But this blockbuster bounty has not trickled down to everything on Broadway; several major musicals have struggled to fill seats during an especially lucrative time of the year, with some shows closing, while others are bracing for the traditionally slow-selling fall.

And the team behind the hit â€œBilly Elliot,â€ which began turning a profit in 2010, is hoping that creative changes, including the elimination of some profanity, will help draw more families and school groups.

Meanwhile, the $13 million musical â€œCatch Me if You Canâ€ â€” which had been one of the most anticipated of the spring â€” is now set to close on Sunday after ticket sales fizzled this summer, a result of mixed reviews and weak word of mouth. Another new musical, â€œBaby Itâ€™s You!,â€ is also closing on Sunday after quickly petering out, and the producers of â€œThe Addams Familyâ€ announced last week that it would close at the end of the year after a 22-month run.

The business challenges stem from a Broadway marketplace that is unusually packed with musicals, as well as a different breed of spectacle, Cirque du Soleilâ€™s â€œZarkana,â€ which has sold an impressive 400,000 tickets so far for its four-month run at Radio City Music Hall. â€œZarkanaâ€ has been competing with traditional musicals by selling tickets at the TKTS discount booths favored by many families and tourists.

â€œThereâ€™s a finite number of Broadway ticket buyers, and thereâ€™s what feels like a huge number of Broadway shows,â€ said Garry McQuinn, another lead producer on â€œPriscilla.â€ â€œDo I wish we hadnâ€™t opened in one of the busiest Broadway seasons ever? Sure. Do I wish we were selling more tickets? Absolutely. But our operating costs are low, and our advance ticket sale is good.â€ (He declined to provide those numbers.)

â€œSo Iâ€™m not inclined to panic,â€ he added, â€œwhich doesnâ€™t mean weâ€™re not taking steps to improve our business position.â€

Bill Taylor, one of the lead producers of â€œSister Act,â€ said he was counting on a new television commercial and a new marketing campaign in early October to establish that musical as â€œa big Broadway show, a date show, a girlsâ€™-night-out show, with great singing and dancing.â€

â€œSo far we havenâ€™t managed to get people to see â€˜Sister Actâ€™ for what it is â€” a big Broadway musical that is very funny,â€ Mr. Taylor said. For months the showâ€™s marketing focused on the image of its star, Patina Miller, as an echo and reminder of advertising for the movie â€œSister Actâ€ that showcased its main attraction, Whoopi Goldberg.

â€œWe have a huge affection for the movie, and Patina is wonderful, but we realized that the message we wanted to get across â€” and havenâ€™t been getting across â€” is that this is a fun show that tourists would love,â€ Mr. Taylor said.

All the marketing in the world is no substitute, however, for positive word of mouth among theatergoers who recommend shows to their friends and relatives. â€œSister Act,â€ â€œPriscillaâ€ and â€œCatch Me if You Canâ€ have not caught on, according to Broadway group sales agents who track such feedback. â€œBilly Elliot,â€ meanwhile, which opened in 2008 and dominated the Tony Awards that season, has been popular with groups but is seeking new momentum after a summer of relatively modest box office business.

Eric Fellner, a lead producer of â€œBilly Elliot,â€ said the creative team would be making some changes to the dialogue of the musical that might serve to broaden its appeal and encourage more bulk sales, which make up an important part of any showâ€™s income. He said that some profanity would be cut and that other language would be tweaked to â€œmake scenes easier to comprehend and perhaps make the show even easier to sell to groups.â€

Stephanie Lee, the president of Group Sales Box Office, said musical producers were smart to experiment with changes at a time of heightened competition for ticket buyers.

â€œIf youâ€™re not one of the blockbuster shows, like â€˜Wickedâ€™ or â€˜Mormon,â€™ youâ€™ve got to find ways to differentiate yourself,â€ Ms. Lee said. â€œBroadway tickets are very expensive, even with a group discount, and people want strong reasons to buy.â€

She credited the â€œPriscillaâ€ producers for trying the money-back guarantee, which lasts through mid-November, covering the period of late summer and fall, when box office sales often stall. Mr. McQuinn said no one had asked for money back yet.

â€œThe Addams Familyâ€ has opted for the more traditional method of star casting, hiring Brooke Shields to play the main female role, Morticia, once Bebe Neuwirth left. The showâ€™s lead producers, Stuart Oken and Roy Furman, said that while ticket sales had been difficult this summer, they would have been worse without Ms. Shields, and they were counting on her to draw holiday tourists in November and December before the show closes.

Competition for tourists this summer has been unquestionably complicated by â€œZarkana,â€ which plays nine or so performances a week at the nearly 6,000-seat Radio City Music Hall â€” the troupeâ€™s first extended New York stay. While Cirque does not release box office data, a spokesman said the â€œZarkanaâ€ weekly grosses had exceeded those of the top Broadway musicals all summer, suggesting receipts upward of $2 million a week; while the run ends on Oct. 8, a 2012 return has already been scheduled.

â€œThereâ€™s no doubt in my mind that â€˜Zarkanaâ€™ is cutting into sales of much of Broadway,â€ said Mr. McQuinn of â€œPriscilla.â€

At the TKTS booth in Times Square one afternoon last week, â€œZarkanaâ€ was selling half-price tickets, along with â€œSister Act,â€ â€œPriscilla,â€ â€œSpider-Manâ€ and most other shows. Interviews with a dozen ticket buyers, however, indicated that the most popular sellers were â€œThe Addams Familyâ€ and the revival of â€œAnything Goes,â€ two familiar brands that struck buyers as family-friendly.

â€œWe thought about â€˜Priscillaâ€™ or â€˜How to Succeed,â€™ but weâ€™ve heard the best things about â€˜Anything Goes,â€™ and we kind of want a sure thing for our one night on Broadway,â€ said Karen Gray, a Chicagoan who bought the tickets for herself and her daughter, Allie.

Max Carrel, a 22-year-old from Geneva, Switzerland, had been hoping to snag a ticket for â€œThe Book of Mormon,â€ describing himself as a fan of provocative fare. â€œMormon,â€ about two Utah missionaries trying to get by in Africa, probably wonâ€™t be listed on the TKTS board for years, and no descriptions of the other musicals grabbed Mr. Carrel. He ended up buying a ticket instead to a popular Off Broadway play, â€œFreudâ€™s Last Session.â€

â€œ â€˜Sister Actâ€™ and â€˜Spider-Manâ€™ and some of the others, they donâ€™t sound like theyâ€™d hold much surprise,â€ Mr. Carrel said. â€œBut Freudâ€™s always fun.â€